Iowa Hawkeyes safety shake-up pushes Amani Hooker forward

IOWA CITY — Couch everything this week in the fact that No. 4 Penn State and running back Saquon Barkley are coming to town.

You saw last weekend that sophomore Amani Hooker replaced junior Jake Gervase at free safety. The change at the end of the first quarter. North Texas scored on a 41-yard run up and through the middle of Iowa's defense on the Mean Green's previous drive. Gervase took a bad angle and couldn't shut the door on the play.

Asked about the switch in the postgame, head coach Kirk Ferentz said a safety rotation might be in the works. That also might include senior strong safety Miles Taylor.

'We've felt good about the way Amani has been playing, so we kind of see all three guys pretty even right now (and) we may start a three-way rotation, but we will play that by ear.'

Stat Pak: Iowa needs full-go Akrum Wadley for Penn State

On the depth chart Iowa released Monday, Hooker was listed as the starter at free safety. Gervase is the No. 2 strong safety behind Taylor. True freshman Geno Stone is listed as the backup to Hooker.

Hooker wasn't in the plans at safety last week. He played 14 snaps in a dime package (four D-linemen, one linebacker and six defensive backs) at Iowa State and expected a similar workload against North Texas.

'I didn't think I was going to get in for any plays at safety,' said Hooker, a sophomore from Minneapolis, Minn. 'I knew I would get in for dime and nickel stuff, but safety just kind of happened during the game.'

Defensive coordinator Phil Parker also is the secondary coach. He's moved some pieces around already this season.

Sophomore cornerback Manny Rugamba was suspended for Week 1. He started against Iowa State, but was taken out in favor of Michael Ojemudia. And then last week, Rugamba started and played the entire game against North Texas.

And now the pieces are moving at safety.

Hooker has practiced at both safety spots. Iowa might be looking for a little more thump from the safeties against the run. Hooker is 6-0, 210 pounds.

You heard Hooker mention that he played his first snaps at safety last week. They really were his first at the position.

Fun Facts: Iowa-Penn State

'Obviously, it was my first time playing safety,' Hooker said. 'So it was a little fast at first, but over time I got comfortable and I was just playing ball.'

Safety might be pretty important for the Hawkeyes this week. Anyone with an Iowa helmet and who plays defense is going to be pretty important against an offense that ripped off 70 plays and 599 yards against it last season.

Couch everything in the fact that Barkley, an ensconced Heisman lister, and quarterback Trace McSorley, who tore the Hawkeyes apart, are back and the Nittany Lions look as fast and explosive as they did during their Big Ten championship run last season.

Quick Slants

• The Big Ten Conference announced Monday that next week's game at Michigan State will kick off at 3 p.m. (Iowa time) and will be televised on FOX.

• Freshmen running backs Toren Young and Ivory Kelly-Martin are listed as the backups this week after senior running back James Butler's injury last week.

According to Ferentz, Butler will miss the next three games after suffering an elbow injury last weekend. Ferentz told Hawkeyesports.com on Sunday that the plan is for Butler to return following Iowa's bye week. That would be Oct. 21 at Northwestern.

More: Freshman duo leads Iowa rush attack in 2nd half against UNT

Butler, a graduate transfer from Nevada, put up solid numbers in three games with Iowa, rushing for 158 yards on 36 carries (4.39 per carry). Young and Kelly-Martin combined for 30 carries, 152 yards and two TDs against North Texas.

— The rotation at left guard between senior Boone Myers and junior Ross Reynolds continued last week. Myers played 54 snaps; Reynolds 34.

— The 86 plays Iowa ran against North Texas was its most since running 88 against Nebraska in 2014, a span of 30 games. Iowa also ran 82 plays against Iowa State in Week 2. It was the first time Iowa had back-to-back weeks of 80-plus plays since it ran 80, 85 and 83 against Northern Illinois, Missouri State and Iowa State in the first three games of the 2013 season.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com